Saturday, January 3, 2015

Platinum Preppy - A Guest Post by Pens! Paper! Pencils!

The Platinum Preppy is a fountain pen that
costs around £3 in the UK (and about $3-$4.50 in the US). They can be found
with an extra-fine nib (02), medium nib (05) or, as with this one, a fine nib
(03). When purchased the trim on the pen will match the ink colour, of which
there are many options. (How many depends on where you are looking and which
size nib you are buying.)

You’re not restricted to the ink colour you
originally bought, of course. The Preppy takes proprietary Platinum cartridges
or, with an adaptor, standard international cartridges. It can also be
converted to an eye-dropper.

The barrel looks a bit horrid, if I’m
honest. What appear to be ugly stickers plastered all over it are in fact
printed on and so you’re stuck with them.

The clip is liable to break if you’re not
careful with it. The cap however does post nicely and with the whole pen being
so light it’s well balanced whether used posted or not. Likewise, it’s a
comfortable length and width however you like to write.

I’ve heard talk of Preppy’s being a bit hit
and miss in terms of nibs but this particular one is really very good. It’s
smooth and there’s no skipping. I’ve used pens that have literally been over
ten times as expensive that haven’t been as pleasant to write with.

This pen has travelled by plane to three
different countries with me and it hasn’t let me down. It will last forever but
it isn’t the end of the world if it’s lost of get broken. It’s ugly, there’s no
getting away from that, but it’s great to write with.

8 comments:

They're surprisingly good writers, although my purple 0.3mm Preppy seized up a while ago, and stubbornly refuses to write again despite my soaking the section, &c &c.

I think my current favourite cheapie is the Pilot V Pen, although sadly that's refillable only by means of a "hack" (pulling the section out with pliers, & using an eyedropper) as it's designed to be disposable.

My red one cracked at the cap lip from using it so much. I never dropped it or abused it, it was simply from using it. Other than that, it was a great pen, but sadly I had to retire it since the cap would no longer stay on.